Fallen Angel
by TheDarkKunoichi
Summary: Seven year old Ri Houjun knew something terrible happened to the poor young girl he found floating in the Shoryuu River. She was covered in bruises and slight hints of ash, and her clothes were in tatters. But despite those, it's like she was sent to them by the god Suzaku himself. Kouran looked so much like a beautiful angel that fell from the heavens... *Childhood fic*
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

 **~oOo~**

 _Gone. All gone._

Pain pricked at her feet, as she stepped on several burning rubble and wood on the ground.

 _How could this happen? How could they?_

Hands slack, face distraught and eyes wide, she continued walking forward with eyes unseeing.

 _They left me. No one cared. They left me all alone._

Her dress torn in tatters and scorched, her whole body covered with bruises and ash, she looked like an average beggar to the untrained eye.

 _Gone. Why did they leave?_

She walked past hundreds of bodies, all burned beyond recognition.

 _Who were those bad men? Why did father left mother and me?_

She never gave the bodies a second glance.

 _Why did mother leave me in our house? There was a lot of smoke and it's so hot!_

Her eyes were stinging, but she couldn't seem to blink. No tears seem to be coming.

 _Gone. They left. Why?_

She barely noticed that she left the burning village behind.

 _Did they not love me anymore?_

She barely noticed the foliage of trees she entered.

 _No one cared. I am all alone._

She barely noticed the river.

 _Gone. They're all gone._

She barely noticed the water clogging up her lungs.

Barely noticed that it is very _cold._

Never noticed when darkness entered her vision…

 **~oOo~**

"Okaa-san, look! There's a girl swimming in the river. Can I join her?"

A woman frowned in disapproval when her seven year old son began pleading with her. He should know that the conditions are not suited for a swim. There's a storm clearly coming judging by the graying clouds. The parents of that girl should be told off if they let their daughter swim unsupervised!

"Okaa-san, why is that girl not moving? Shouldn't you be moving your arms and legs when swimming?"

Hearing this, the woman snapped her head up in shock to find a body floating motionlessly in the river. Terror seized her heart, and she immediately cried to a couple of villagers fishing at the other side. "There's a child unconscious in the river! _Pull her out!"_

The men all jumped to action at her voice once they saw the child themselves. Several panicked voices yelled as a few men jumped in to rescue the girl.

"Okaa-san, what's going on?" Her son gazed at her in confusion, too young to realize the current danger.

"Houjun, can you play by the trees over there? I just have something to take care of. It's nothing to worry about, I won't be long."

"But what about the girl? Why are those men scared? Is she drowning?"

She almost forgot how perceptive her son is. Houjun is unusually bright for a child his age.

She smiled reassuringly, though instincts told her to rush and try to save the girl herself. She has enough skills to be a doctor, and the villagers recognized it. "The girl will be alright. Okaa-san will save her. So while that is happening, you should play over there. Find Hikou and let him join you too."

As if sensing the urgency, Ri Houjun smiled and nodded. "Hai, okaa-san. Go save her, I'll be alright here."

"Thank you Houjun." She kissed his forehead and hurriedly sent him away. Once her son left, she immediately headed for the unconscious girl and set to work.

"Out of the way! Ri Sange will look over the girl. Give her some space!" A man cried out and the villagers quickly moved away from the body. Sange immediately knelt down and checked the girl's vitals, taking note of her cold, pale, almost bluish skin and her trembling that suggests hypothermia. The child's pulse is barely there and…

"She's not breathing." Sange whispered in disbelief. Several of the men cried out in a panic and urgently told her to save the child, which she fully intend to do.

"Okaa-san, do that thing where you push their chest and water comes out. She nearly drowned right?" A voice yelled and Sange turned in shock to see her son watching her attempts to revive the young girl. She has half a mind to scold her son for disobeying her orders, but they both know there is no time to send him away, so she just turned back to the young girl who is looking paler by the minute. Sange frowned in concentration and placed her hands on the girl's chest and pushed, followed by forcing air into her mouth.

"One… two… three…"

 _Come on, live! Don't die on me, you're still very young!_

"One… two… three…"

Everyone waited with bated breath, watching Sange's every move and the pale girl lying limply before her.

"One… two… three…"

Sange could sense her son watching her silently, knowing it is a very critical situation. He never even thought of making a sound.

"One… two… three…"

The others were beginning to murmur worriedly, as if sensing that the girl couldn't be saved. Houjun is stubbornly refusing to let his anxiety show, but he can also see that even his mother is beginning to slow with her pushes.

"I don't think the girl's gonna make it…" Houjun heard a villager whisper, and he immediately felt angered. They're so easy to give up, while his mother is doing everything she could. Why won't they help?!

Houjun stared at the unconscious girl, and noticed her wet, tattered clothes and the traces of ash on her face and body. She also has a lot of bruises that are made noticeable by her very pale, cold skin. She looks like she's gone through something terrible, and it would truly be heartless to let her die here now.

She deserved so much better.

"Okaa-san, she can still make it! I know she can. Save her!" Houjun cried.

He knows she can. And his mother can save her. She's an amazing doctor.

She wouldn't let anyone die.

As if responding to his prayers, he watched as one final push on the chest by his mother caused the girl to finally cough and gasp. All the villagers cried in relief and Houjun helped her mother tip the girl's head to the side to let her spit out the river water. Holding her head and arm, Houjun can clearly feel her ice-cold skin and her violent trembling. His instinct told him to warm her by hugging her tight, but he decided to wait for his mother's orders. It's not like he knows what to do in these kinds of situations.

"She's suffering from hypothermia, we should warm her up. Quick! Remove her wet clothes and find a warm blanket."

The villagers immediately set to work. Several removed their outer robes and presented it to his mother. Sange concentrated on removing the ruined clothes of the young girl. Houjun reddened when he saw what his mother is doing and turned around. He knew it isn't polite to stare at a girl with her clothes gone. His father often told him off about those things.

His best friend Hikou has no reservations about it though.

"Houjun, you can look now. She's covered." He heard his mother say, amusement clearly evident in her voice despite the worry. He blushed even further and cleared his throat.

"I'm going to let her rest in our house. Unfortunately, I don't have clothes for girls. Are any of you willing to lend her some?" Sange asked, her authoritative 'doctor' voice taking over.

"My daughter has some old clothes. I'll bring them over to your house later." A villager said.

"Thank you very much." Sange smiled. "I'm sure she will be grateful as well. We'll be leaving now. Please help us carry her. Come along Houjun."

Houjun watched a man as he slowly lifted the girl and carried her in his arms. Once he is sure she's safe, he finally nodded. "Hai, okaa-san."

 **~oOo~**

Houjun crept towards the close door of his parents' room. He knows eavesdropping is bad, but if it concerns the girl resting in the room next door, it concerns him too.

He proceeded to rest his ear against the door, trying to make his movements as quiet as possible.

"… _child… unconscious… the river?"_

" _Yes… Houjun found her._ " He perked up at the mention of his name. _"Without him, the girl may very well be dead by now."_

" _But what kind of parent leaves their child unsupervised? They should know better!"_

" _She must have come from a nearby village. No one around here recognizes her. She must be floating in that river for several hours!"_

Several hours?! It's a miracle that she's not dead. Houjun hurriedly backed from the door and tip-toed away. The girl… the girl's a miracle!

His parents' voices faded as he stepped into the spare room where the girl currently resides and closed the door. He still hadn't informed Hikou yet of her, but he's sure his best friend will hear the rumors going around the village somewhere and will come by here tomorrow to see if it's true.

For now, it's his turn to look.

Cautiously, he approached the still body on the bed. Her body's covered by a whole pile of warm blankets above her, but Houjun could still see her face because of the lamp that's glowing softly beside the bed. One look made him gasp and his face to heat up madly.

Her face, while dotted with bruises and scratches, cannot hide her natural beauty. Houjun has never seen any girl in this village as pretty as the girl in front of him now. Maybe his mother is right, she _did_ come from another village.

Or maybe from the god Suzaku himself. She looks so much like an angel from the heavens.

But why would she be unconscious in the river? Maybe she's swimming when she got carried away by the 'currents'? His mother sometimes doesn't allow him to swim in the river if she felt that the 'currents' are too strong, though he doesn't really know what that means. Or maybe she fell on accident? Maybe she isn't a good swimmer? If that's the case, he can teach her a few tricks!

Too caught up in his thoughts, he failed to see the girl stirring and her eyes opening, but he _did_ notice when she gasped and started flailing around, her panic clearly written across her face.

"Hey, it's okay! Don't be scared! It's okay, you're safe. No one's going to hurt you!" He tried to calm her, his voice taking on a soft, comforting tone like he's heard his mother use when he's scared. But the girl didn't seem to hear him. She continued gasping and crying out, her hands getting in a tangle with all the blankets on top of her.

 _Maybe she's suffocating through all those blankets!_ His panic-ridden mind said, and he immediately set on the task of removing those blankets from her while murmuring words of comfort. Slowly, her panic is dying out when she noticed the blankets being removed. Houjun continued to whisper soothingly, doing his best to calm her down himself.

He finally got rid of the last piece of blanket covering her and let out a sigh. Suzaku, where did they even get these heavy blankets? There's like, a hundred in the pile!

"Ari.. gatou…" A soft voice muttered, and Houjun snapped his head in shock at the sound. It sounded really weak and tired, but relieved nonetheless. He turned to look at the girl and is struck speechless at the bright emerald eyes that were gazing softly at him. It almost reminded him of the trees he loved climbing around. He can almost see himself reflected back at those bright, beautiful orbs.

She is _really_ pretty.

"Um… uh… it's alright! No need to umm… thank me." He stuttered and scratched his head sheepishly.

 _Why is he stuttering?!_

The girl said nothing, and only tried to sit up. He watched as she sighed when she found that she couldn't, and turned to face him again.

"W-Who are you…?"

"Umm… my name is Ri Houjun." The girl continued to stare at him. "Uhhh… you're here in my house right now so you can rest." He said for lack of anything better to say.

The girl doesn't look like she has anything to say either, so they both settled for silence.

"So um… so what's your name?" Houjun asked and smiled encouragingly.

The girl blinked at him in surprise, then she looked thoughtful, as if trying to remember it. Houjun frowned slightly, how could she even forget her own name?

Finally she turned to him and he watched as she tugged at her lips and revealed a smile for the first time, and it felt like he is frozen at that moment. The moment that will forever be etched into Ri Houjun's memory until the day he died.

"I'm Kouran."

The day Kouran came into his life.

* * *

 **A/N: Ri Sange is pronounced as 'Ri San-ji'.**

 **And if Houjun sounds OOC, it's because he's still a child and far from being the mature adult we all know him to be.**

 **Please PLEASE review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

They continued to blink at each other after that declaration, and Houjun suddenly found himself smiling kindly at her.

"Kouran? That's a very pretty name." He complimented.

But the girl, Kouran, only nodded, obviously not going to elaborate further. It's clear that she's not a very talkative person. Well, Houjun's going to try and change that.

"Do you want to eat? It's near dinnertime, and I figure my parents would like to see you awake now." He suggested, but Kouran only remained silent. It seems the only things she will respond to are the blankets and her name.

Houjun, undettered by her lack of interest, continued. "Oh you're not hungry? Then how about…?"

But he never got the chance to say anything, because just then, thunder suddenly rumbled and echoed loud around the room, almost making him jump a foot in the air in surprise.

But it's worse for Kouran.

The moment the thunder rumbled, Kouran screamed and flung herself out of the bed and into Houjun's waiting arms. In extreme surprise, Houjun's first instinct is to catch her, and nearly stumbled and almost crashed to the floor in his haste. He tried his best to steady them both, and held her as she sobbed and cried.

 _I forgot that okaa-san said there's going to be a storm!_ He thought in a panic as Kouran sobbed against his clothes and trembled. He hugged her tight and proceeded to whisper comforting words, trying his best to calm her down. He realized that hates seeing her like this… it makes her vulnerable and weak and he _doesn't want to see her like that…!_

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm here Kouran. It's just a storm. It won't hurt you. But if it really bothers you that much, I'll protect you from that bad thunder… don't worry." He smiled encouragingly. Houjun knew he couldn't really do that at all, but it made him feel better when he saw Kouran lift her head up to look at him, bright emerald eyes seemingly getting bigger because of the tears. "Can you really _do_ that?"

"Of course! From now on, I'll protect you!" Houjun grinned and hugged her again, Kouran gratefully returning it.

 _I don't know what happened to make you this frightened, but I'm going to help you through it. I swear on the god Suzaku that I will._

…

His parents later found Houjun with Kouran still in his arms on the bed, both fast asleep. Kouran now slept soundly, no longer looking like the pale, unconscious young girl they found floating in the river. They didn't try to wake them up, and instead just tucked them in with a blanket and left just as quietly as they came.

 **~oOo~**

"Hey Houjun!" Hikou bounded over to Houjun, who is currently sitting by the very same river Kouran almost drowned in. He's just staring at it, recounting the events that happened yesterday while waiting for his best friend to arrive. And boy did Hikou have a loud entrance.

"Hooouuu _juuuun_! I just heard that you got a very pretty girl sleeping in your house! You didn't tell me you're married!"

Houjun simply rolled his eyes at his best friend's antics and enthusiasm, wondering how _that_ news came around. "Oh come on Hikou, if you heard the rumors right, then you know she's there because she nearly drowned in the river. Besides, I'm seven!"

"So I heard, so I heard..." Hikou quickly dismissed it with a wave of his hand, intent on getting his gossip straightened out. "So what's up with that? Did you ask her what she's doing there already?"

"Well no…" Houjun scratched his head, looking sheepish. "But I think my parents already did. But I don't think she even remembers at all..."

Hikou suddenly froze and turned to stare at him. "What do you mean, 'she doesn't remember?'"

Houjun shrugged. "Okaa-san said people with hypothermia, in the case of severe ones like this, experience slight memory loss. I don't think it's for a life-time though. My parents couldn't get anything out of her at all. Though they suspect that she came from another village by the Shoryuu River."

"Umm yeah.. about that…" Hikou trailed off, and Houjun watched with raised eyebrows as his best friend went deep in thought. "Well… I overheard one of the villagers talking that one of the villages nearby had been raided by bandits from Kutou and burned to the ground. Only a few survived. Maybe the girl is from there?"

 _Bandits? From Kutou?! Burned to the ground?!_

Witthout thinking, Houjun quickly turned on his heel and ran home, intent on relaying this piece of information to his parents. He completely ignored Hikou's calls for him to come back, and his friend has no choice but to run after him like crazy.

…

"Okaa-san! _Okaa-san!"_ Houjun cried as he burst through the front door. His mother jumped in surprise, as well as Kouran who is currently sitting at the table. Houjun immediately blushed a deep red when he realized that he shocked both of the girls speechless.

"What's the matter with you Houjun? Can't you enter the door like a normal person would?" His mother frowned in disappointment at him while Kouran just stared. Houjun blushed an even deeper shade of red in embarrassment.

"Ri-san!" It is then Hikou's turn to burst through the door like a mad man and almost collide with Houjun, who quickly jumped out of the way. "Gah! Gomen, but Houjun just ran off like crazy the moment I told him about the nearby village getting- **MMPPHHH?!** "

"Quiet, you!" Houjun practically hissed as Hikou struggled to get out of his grip. Seriously, Hikou could be reckless sometimes. Can't he see that Kouran is sitting _directly in front of them_?

"Ahh don't mind him! He's just had a lot of umm…" His brain scrambled to give the perfect excuse to the still staring Kouran. "Sweet cakes! Yeah. That's just a whole lot of sugar there, right Hikou?"

"Y-Yeah! Rice wine! Uh, I mean sweet cakes, yeah!" Houjun almost face-palmed at the scene they're making.

"Houjun, can you help me take these to the river?" His mother's eyes flashed and Houjun immediately understood. Besides, he needs to get out of here to avoid that amused look Kouran was giving them. It made him feel so embarrassed.

"Can Hikou come too? He can help!" Houjun wouldn't be stupid as to leave those two alone. Who knows what Hikou will say to her? Besides, Hikou's already staring at her open-mouthed like it's the first time he's ever seen a girl. "Hikou, come on already!"

"Uhh yeah… yeah I'll come." Hikou was still gaping when Houjun finally dragged him away from Kouran, who just watched all of this blankly.

…

The moment they're out of the house and out of hearing range did his mother finally scold him. "First of all, it's not proper manners to burst through the door like the evil spirits are right at your heels. It almost caused poor Kouran and me to have a heart attack! Second, you're both terrible liars, so tell me now what has been bothering you."

Houjun wasted no time explaining. "Okaa-san, Hikou told me that Kouran is from a nearby village that caught fire and raided by bandits from Kutou! Maybe that's why she had those ugly bruises and the ash on her face that day!"

His mother blinked in surprise at his immediate answer, obviously considering the possibilities. "It's very possible. Oh that poor child… maybe that's the reason why she lost her memories. She's traumatized!"

"Maybe those evil bandits are the ones who threw her down the river that day too!" Houjun almost growled when he thought about it. To even think about killing sweet and innocent Kouran… that's a crime by itself!

"Whoa Houjun, are you that close to her already? It's been like… what, a day and a half since you met her?" Hikou looked completely puzzled.

"I don't know… I just felt protective of her. She seems so easy to care about…" Houjun muttered. The very thought of Kouran left tingles in his body, and it's so confusing!

Hikou suddenly raised his hand, and both Houjun and his mother turned to stare impatiently at him. "I got your attention? Great! Then let me tell you something that I was going to tell Houjun before he ran off like crazy. I heard another rumor that as soon as they are done raiding other villages and towns, the Kutou bandits will attack our village too. And they will probably leave it destroyed like Kouran's village."

Both Ris turned silent at this announcement while Hikou only stared at them grimly. Finally, Houjun managed to work his gaping mouth. _"What?!"_

"It's true! Heard it from the village elders themselves. If we're not careful, they'll kill us all."

"If that _is_ true, they'll probably start training the men to protect the village soon." Houjun's mother frowned in thought. "Maybe it will be safe to request to the both of you now not to venture away from the village anymore. No going to the forests after dark, and no loitering around!"

Both boys opened their mouths to protest, but Ri Sange quickly silenced them with a glare. "I won't accept any excuses from the two of you. Your safety comes first." Her gaze then softened. "I suggest we return to the house, Kouran will probably wonder where we are now."

"Umm… about that Kouran girl?" Hikou suddenly asked. "Is she available?"

"Idiot." Houjun elbowed him in the ribs and Hikou instantly cried out in pain.

"Now that you mentioned it, since she has a lot of injuries and burns and is probably traumatized into an unresponsive state, I suggest that we let her stay in the house for a while." Sange told them.

"Aaaand how long is 'a while' exactly?" Hikou asked suspiciously, used by Houjun's mother's antics.

Ri Sange only smiled awkwardly in reply.


End file.
